Institute for Social Ecologyhttp://social-ecology.org/wp
Popular Education for a Free SocietySat, 11 Aug 2018 20:56:44 +0000en-UShourly1Review of Andreas Malm’s The Progress of This Stormhttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/07/review-of-andreas-malms-the-progress-of-this-storm/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/07/review-of-andreas-malms-the-progress-of-this-storm/#respondWed, 11 Jul 2018 06:42:58 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7557In These Times editor and ISE affiliate Dayton Martindale has written an excellent critical review of eco-Marxist Andreas Malm’s new book on climate change, The Progress of This Storm: Nature and Society in a Warming World. He argues that by resurrecting a problematic dichotomy between man and nature, Malm’s theoretical and political vision constrains the possibilities of …

]]>In These Times editor and ISE affiliate Dayton Martindale has written an excellent critical review of eco-Marxist Andreas Malm’s new book on climate change, The Progress of This Storm: Nature and Society in a Warming World. He argues that by resurrecting a problematic dichotomy between man and nature, Malm’s theoretical and political vision constrains the possibilities of a truly liberated ecosocialist future – the transcendence of such dualisms by the “third nature” described by Social Ecology.

“But there’s a recognition of something shared between human and nonhuman, an unbreakable independent spirit that makes a villain out of top-down control itself. Henry David Thoreau called it “wildness”; we might call it the democratic instinct. It is from this recognition that any vision for an ecological future must begin. It looks away from our supposedly unique “third level of agency” toward more universal features of the natural world: adaptation, spontaneity, experimentation, freedom. It centers empathy and cooperation—think of gorillas dismantling traps—and uplifts the sort of care and subsistence labor that has traditionally been devalued by nature/society binaries, justifying the exploitation of women, indigenous groups and nonhumans. It draws on an evolutionary history of mutual aid, a lineage from beetles to humans famously drawn by Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin. Less Lenin, more lemur.

To develop these qualities, I submit, it helps to conceive of human society as a subset of the natural. It may not be enough to rewild the forests, the prairies, the oceans and the deserts (although of course we must do those things). Perhaps we must rewild ourselves. The goal should be what left-green theorist Murray Bookchin called “Third Nature,” a harmonious, fecund synthesis of the nonhuman world (“First Nature”) and human communities (“Second Nature”).

…What we need, in a word, is integration. In food production, where permaculture and agro-ecological techniques are finding that the same land can feed humans and sustain wildlife, if we orient ourselves toward cooperation rather than control.

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/07/review-of-andreas-malms-the-progress-of-this-storm/feed/0Z.A.D. and the Revenge Against the Commons, by John Jordanhttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/05/z-a-d-and-the-revenge-against-the-commons-by-john-jordan/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/05/z-a-d-and-the-revenge-against-the-commons-by-john-jordan/#respondTue, 01 May 2018 18:03:37 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7544ISE affiliate and longtime activist John Jordan has written an account of the Z.A.D. autonomous territory in Western France that is now under attack by the French state. “As you may well know, Isa and I and our collective the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination moved to the autonomous territory of the zad in western France …

]]>ISE affiliate and longtime activist John Jordan has written an account of the Z.A.D. autonomous territory in Western France that is now under attack by the French state.

“As you may well know, Isa and I and our collective the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination moved to the autonomous territory of the zad in western France a few years back. As you may also know these 4000 acres of liberated land against an airport and its world is being evicted by the french state as I write, with 2500 gendarmes, armoured cars, drones and helicopters, because an example of life despite the state and capitalism cannot be left to flourish even though the people who live there won the 50 year struggle against the airport and now claim that the land should be held in common by them.”

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/05/z-a-d-and-the-revenge-against-the-commons-by-john-jordan/feed/0New book from Matt Hernhttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/04/new-book-from-matt-hern/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/04/new-book-from-matt-hern/#respondWed, 25 Apr 2018 16:59:03 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7525Long-time ISE lecturer Matt Hern has an excellent new book just out, combining an extended travelogue to the center of Canada’s tar sands with an engaging dose of social theory and free-form political commentary. Here’s what the publisher, MIT Press, says about Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life: A Tar Sands Tale, co-written by …

]]>Long-time ISE lecturer Matt Hern has an excellent new book just out, combining an extended travelogue to the center of Canada’s tar sands with an engaging dose of social theory and free-form political commentary. Here’s what the publisher, MIT Press, says about Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life: A Tar Sands Tale, co-written by Matt and his colleague Am Johal, the Community Engagement director at Simon Fraser University. The book also features lots of photos and a cartoon account of their journey by Joe Sacco:

Confounded by global warming and in search of an affirmative politics that links ecology with social change, Matt Hern and Am Johal set off on a series of road trips to the tar sands of northern Alberta—perhaps the world’s largest industrial site, dedicated to the dirty work of extracting oil from Alberta’s vast reserves. Traveling from culturally liberal, self-consciously “green” Vancouver, and aware that our well-meaning performances of recycling and climate-justice marching are accompanied by constant driving, flying, heating, and fossil-fuel consumption, Hern and Johal want to talk to people whose lives and fortunes depend on or are imperiled by extraction. They are seeking new definitions of ecology built on a renovated politics of land. Traveling with them is their friend Joe Sacco—infamous journalist and cartoonist, teller of complex stories from Gaza to Paris—who contributes illustrations and insights and a chapter-length comic about the contradictions of life in an oil town. The epic scale of the ecological horror is captured through an series of stunning color photos by award-winning aerial photographer Louis Helbig.

Seamlessly combining travelogue, sophisticated political analysis, and ecological theory, speaking both to local residents and to leading scholars, the authors propose a new understanding of ecology [one that’s familiar to social ecologists!] that links the domination of the other-than-human world to the domination of humans by humans. They argue that any definition of ecology has to start with decolonization and that confronting global warming requires a politics that speaks to a different way of being in the world—a reconstituted understanding of the sweetness of life.

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/04/new-book-from-matt-hern/feed/0The ZAD Becomes Compost: LONG LIVE THE ZAD (Zone a Defendre)!http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/04/the-zad-becomes-compost-long-live-the-zad-zone-a-defendre/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/04/the-zad-becomes-compost-long-live-the-zad-zone-a-defendre/#respondFri, 13 Apr 2018 22:40:32 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7507By Beverly Naidus When something you have witnessed, loved and cared for is destroyed and uprooted, whether it is a forest, a species, a community or a culture, it can wreck the spirit. The trauma of these violent actions, informed by greed and ignorance, can ripple out widely, encouraging resistance, but it requires attention. In …

When something you have witnessed, loved and cared for is destroyed and uprooted, whether it is a forest, a species, a community or a culture, it can wreck the spirit. The trauma of these violent actions, informed by greed and ignorance, can ripple out widely, encouraging resistance, but it requires attention. In order for the suffering to become compost from which we can plant our visions again, it needs amplification. Writing in the wee hours, on the Pacific coast of North America, I am hoping that these words will be heard, knowing that our peaceful warrior friends in the southwest of France are facing violence today.

In October 2017 we were able to visit the ZAD, a wonderful and complex community in France that inspires revolutionary thoughts and actions. Most folks, including activist folks, on this side of the pond have never heard of the ZAD. We’ve been too busy with the ever-escalating messes in our own backyards to pay much attention to visionary projects elsewhere. But fortunately, I have known of the activist artist, John Jordan, one of the key residents and spoke-persons for the ZAD, for many years. He made a contribution to my book, Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame, New Village Press, 2009) and has kept me informed about the ZAD via email and social media.

For those who are unaware of this remarkable place, it’s been a European symbol of contemporary resistance against development and fossil fuels. A coalition of movements including environmental activists, local farmers and unionists, anarchists, students and creative resistors of all sorts has prevented the building of an airport, and formed the largest autonomous zone in Europe, 4000 acres inhabited by 250 or so squatters who make up about 60 collectives.

This is not going to be an essay to describe the history and theories informing the ZAD. The reader can easily find that information online, but instead this brief piece will attempt to frame a vision before it slips the collective memory. ZAD is the acronym for Zone a Defendre (translated as “the Zone to Defend”). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_to_Defend

John told us that our visit was well-timed, a party was already in progress at the Ambazada, a newly built barn-like space for meetings, dances, concerts and feast. It seemed to be a celebration of the community and an opportunity to share updates on different coalitions and actions. People of all ages were sitting around on benches in deep conversations. Laughter often erupted, local wine was shared and the pleasant smell of French cigarette smoke greeted us. John introduced us to people and we were invited to grab plates and fill them generously with delicious home-made cuisine. I was struck by the plenty. Huge blocks of cheese and pâté were laid out along with bowls of salads and fruits. A crepe station and the lovely people working there supplied the crowd with warm, tasty regional fare, and we made our way to one of the big tables to learn more about this unusual community.

Over the past three decades, my partner, Bob Spivey, and I had been eager to learn about alternative communities, places where people were living out a vision of how to resist the dominant culture and its rape of the land and community. I had first been interested in collective living when I was a teenager and tasted a bit of it by living on a kibbutz. Unfortunately, the joys of sharing abundance, child care and work, were drowned out by the poison of the racism I witnessed there. Along with government policies that over the past five decades have become increasingly fascist. I was determined to look for other models, ones that were not so contaminated by an ideology of superiority and the propaganda of “safety through aggression.”

Our years of working with the Institute for Social Ecology gave us a vision of what a non-colonizing, permaculture design-informed, ecologically sound, equitable, diverse, revolutionary, liberated world might look like. We saw evidence of this vision at the ZAD.

Every morning we would wake up to the sounds of John’s collective making breakfast in the house where we were hosted. The pantry was filled with boxes of fruit and vegetables. Fresh bread and eggs seemed to magically arrive. A chalk board displayed the tasks of the day and people took up their responsibilities with apparent ease.

In the four days we were there we walked the land meeting members of the 60 collectives that have carved out space, built amazing structures and gardens while sharing childcare, bread, cheese, produce, tools and libraries. We spent time in long conversations, climbed the beautifully built light house for an exquisite sunset view, shared meals, sank into the literature provided at the welcome house, met grad students and journalists who are studying the ZAD, learned about ongoing conflicts between the specie-ists (those who are informed by deep ecology, who don’t believe that humans are special), the global justice activists and the traditional farmers, and discovered that this is the real work of making this vision come alive. John shared the history of battles on the land and how old coalitions between trade unions, farmers and activists were revitalized to create solidarity against the airport. We learned how art, play and humor kept the whole process joyful, even in the face of violence. It was inspiring, but we left knowing that romantic dreams were not enough to make this community sustainable. Doing ongoing anti-oppression work and non-violent conflict resolution would be the continuing task of this visionary place.

Now in this moment of extreme attacks from the State, it is important to remember that the seeds planted by ZAD can be broadcast widely, and we can be encouraged that it has survived and thrived in very difficult conditions. New communities of this kind this will be forming all over the world as the dominant culture continues to crumble. We must take heart, be resilient when there are losses and persist in making our visions emerge.

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/04/the-zad-becomes-compost-long-live-the-zad-zone-a-defendre/feed/0Ecosocialist Educational Convergence in Germanyhttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/ecosocialist-educational-convergence-germany/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/ecosocialist-educational-convergence-germany/#respondMon, 19 Mar 2018 15:01:09 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7491Several social ecologists and friends of the ISE are involved with this upcoming program. We’re sad that the timing overlaps with our own program in Washington State, but this should be an excellent alternative for people in Europe who are not able to make the trip to the U.S.: Ecosocialist Educational Convergence 28 May – …

]]>Several social ecologists and friends of the ISE are involved with this upcoming program. We’re sad that the timing overlaps with our own program in Washington State, but this should be an excellent alternative for people in Europe who are not able to make the trip to the U.S.:

The 3E Collective is organizing a 2-week course with workshops, seminars, working groups and field trips. All the activities will be shaped around the concepts of discovering, engaging and transforming our reality towards an ecological and democratic future.

Our aim is firstly to discover different and militant knowledge. Secondly to engage with our environment and reflect on existing examples of social change. And thirdly to apply and modify this new knowledge to transform our world and practices.

Topics and structure of the convergence

The first week will be based on-site, with classes and workshops. The topics covered in the classes are: climate change, introduction to Eco-philosophies, social ecology, introduction to Latin American social movements, Zapatismo, alternative futures, permaculture, introduction to the Middle East situation, the Kurdish question.

The topics covered in the workshops are: social movement organization, burnout and sustainable activism, critique and self-critique, fund-raising and self-organization.

The second week will focus on direct intervention in the region, engaging and transforming with the information discovered in the first week. There will be the opportunity to focus on recreational breaks, field trips and practical project work, like fundraising, media-creation, writing pamphlets, visiting local grassroots projects, creating/designing campaigns, building structures onsite.

Our aim

The aim of this project is two-fold.

1. To improve the political consciousness of the participants, provide new skills and raise their motivation for the struggles to come.

2. To build up a European Network based on the principles of Eco-socialism. The goals of this network will be to:

* train and support activists

* develop projects and attract funding,

* improve and share resources

* create education materials

Cost / Application

Attendance is free, and food and basic accommodation will be provided. All participants need to apply via email. Some applicants will be offered funding for their travel expenses (allocated based on the strength of the application). We consider applications from individuals and groups. You can attend week 1 only, or weeks 1 and 2 but not week 2 only; please inform us of your availability. Send your application to: 3e@riseup.net

Your application should include a description of the activities and campaigns you are involved in at the moment and your expectations from this seminar (minimum 300 words in total).

Due to funding requirements, participants (between 18 and 30 years old) from Germany and Italy take the priority.

The deadline for applications is 06 April 2018 and we will inform applicants of our decision by 13 April.

Logistics

The location of the convergence is the Social Ecology Center Goldewin (http://szg.blogsport.de/). The language of the convergence is English.

Please write in your application if you have special needs, your dietary requirements and your preferred accommodation (basic indoor accommodation or camping). The food provided will be vegan/vegetarian. In advance of the convergence we will provide preparation material.

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/ecosocialist-educational-convergence-germany/feed/02018 ISE Annual Gathering: Aug. 17-19 Marshfield, VThttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/2018-ise-annual-gathering-aug-17-19-marshfield-vt/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/2018-ise-annual-gathering-aug-17-19-marshfield-vt/#respondSat, 17 Mar 2018 14:00:51 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7422The Institute for Social Ecology cordially invites you to our 2018 Annual Gathering for a weekend of engaging political discussion, great food, and socializing in Marshfield, Vermont. The gathering is a unique opportunity to renew the Social Ecology community in person, restore old friendships and make new ones, and connect with like-minded people from around …

]]>The Institute for Social Ecology cordially invites you to our 2018 Annual Gathering for a weekend of engaging political discussion, great food, and socializing in Marshfield, Vermont. The gathering is a unique opportunity to renew the Social Ecology community in person, restore old friendships and make new ones, and connect with like-minded people from around the world.

This year’s theme is Building Municipalist Movements, inspired by the exciting surge in explicitly municipalist organizing worldwide. This year will feature open thematic panel discussions kicked off by short inputs on the following topics (draft schedule below):

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/2018-ise-annual-gathering-aug-17-19-marshfield-vt/feed/0Against Climate Geoengineering – A response to Jacobinhttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/against-climate-geoengineering/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/against-climate-geoengineering/#respondTue, 06 Mar 2018 15:28:39 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7449From Keith Brunner, a union organizer in Burlington, Vermont and a friend of the ISE. This was originally submitted to Jacobin in response to an article by their editorial board member, Peter Frase, but Keith has not received any response from them. A Socialist Case Against Climate Geoengineering Since the 2015 UN Paris Agreement, climate …

]]>From Keith Brunner, a union organizer in Burlington, Vermont and a friend of the ISE. This was originally submitted to Jacobin in response to an article by their editorial board member, Peter Frase, but Keith has not received any response from them.

A Socialist Case Against Climate Geoengineering

Since the 2015 UN Paris Agreement, climate geoengineering – the intentional large-scale manipulation of the earth’s natural systems – has shifted from the margins to the mainstream of climate policy discussions. The idea counts among its supporters both liberal technocrats and neoconservatives like U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, a notorious climate denier who sees geoengineering as an alternative to “forcing unworkable and costly government mandates on the American people.”

Geoengineering has also found a supporter in Jacobin editorial board member Peter Frase. In an article from the “Earth, Wind, and Fire” issue, Frase raises the “prospect of geoengineering in a left context…as part of a larger portrait of eco-socialism” – calling on leftists to embrace geoengineering as part of a “realistic and appealing” vision of a better world in the future.

Occupation of a eucalyptus plantation by the Landless Workers’ Movement of Brazil (MST). Translation: “Eucalyptus = Drought and Famine. Agrarian Reform = Work and Food.” Photo: World Rainforest Movement.

Frase is correct to call for a vision of ecological reconstruction along socialist lines. But his notion that geoengineering would benefit society – or, more strangely, that support for geoengineering will win working-class people to the socialist project – is as politically naive as it is under-researched.

Far from bringing about an ecological transition, allowing the ruling class to gain control of the global thermostat would more likely result in new commodity frontiers and capitalist expansion, along with the development of new weapons to be used against opponents of empire – as the US attempted in Vietnam through weather modification. A review of the most prominent geoengineering technologies reveals that the impacts of deployment would disproportionately fall on peasant and poor communities in the Global South. Socialist support for geoengineering would be a striking reversal for a political tradition based on international solidarity with the oppressed and exploited.

Geoengineering is generally broken into two categories: technologies aiming to block or reflect sunlight, and those that would suck carbon out of the atmosphere.

BECCS faces potentially insurmountable hurdles to commercial-scale deployment. But even the hype alone is likely to generate speculative investment in arable land, accelerating a land grab that has led to the dispossession and proletarianization of peasant and Indigenous communities in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia since the financial crisis of 2008. While organizations like the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Brazil and COPINH in Honduras are leading courageous struggles for Indigenous land rights and popular agrarian reform, land defenders often face severe repression and criminalization. US and European leftists should be aiming to build links of solidarity with these movements, rather than providing support, if indirect, for the reactionary forces arrayed against them.

In its most prominent form, SRM involves spraying sulfur into the upper atmosphere to shade out incoming sunlight – a practice that would have to be repeated indefinitely to avoid a catastrophic spike in global temperatures once the sulfur shade dissipated. Models predict that SRM deployment would alter global precipitation patterns, shifting monsoons critical to millions of people across Africa and South Asia or exacerbating drought in the Sahel region of Africa.

Geoengineering is currently prohibited under a de facto UN moratorium. But the possibility of unilateral action by the US or another superpower should compel leftists and all opponents of imperialism to fight for an immediate ban on solar radiation management, given the risks. Strengthening ties with movements fighting to defend territory from the carbon commodity frontier, on the other hand, will require rejecting mindless faith in technology with concrete strategy that recognizes peasants and landless rural workers as key players in an international anti-capitalist historic bloc.

Leftists should welcome the opportunity to debate real solutions to climate change. As Jacobin editor Alyssa Battistoni points out, “[c]limate change more than any other issue demonstrates the need for socialism. It points to the need for more democratic political control over industry, technology, and infrastructure; more conscious intention about how we build our world, why, and for whom.”

Climate geoengineering, on the other hand, is science-fiction fantasy bankrolled by the ruling class – a project to be roundly rejected by all those committed to social justice and a livable planet.

Keith Brunner is an organizer, researcher and member of the Vermont Workers’ Center living in Burlington, Vermont.

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/03/against-climate-geoengineering/feed/02 Recent talks by Dan Chodorkoffhttp://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/02/2-recent-talks-dan-chodorkoff/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/02/2-recent-talks-dan-chodorkoff/#respondWed, 28 Feb 2018 14:45:44 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7455Here are videos of 2 recent talks by Dan Chodorkoff, who co-founded the ISE together with Murray Bookchin back in 1974. The first is from a panel on Social Ecology and Urban Movements, held at the Ecopolis Social Centre in Thessaloniki, Greece in September 2017. The second was recorded in early February 2018 at McGill …

]]>Here are videos of 2 recent talks by Dan Chodorkoff, who co-founded the ISE together with Murray Bookchin back in 1974. The first is from a panel on Social Ecology and Urban Movements, held at the Ecopolis Social Centre in Thessaloniki, Greece in September 2017. The second was recorded in early February 2018 at McGill University in Montreal. You can click on either image and follow the link to YouTube, or click directly on the YouTube links below:

Our fall Ecology, Democracy, Utopia seminar was a great success, with 18 students enrolled from across the world including Texas, the Netherlands, Serbia, London, Brazil, Philippines, and one brave soul who joined us at 3 am from Western Australia!

We are excited to offer a brand-new online course: Social Transformation Beyond Pragmatism or Utopia! Taught by long-time ISE affiliate Robert Ogman, this three-session seminar will explore the theoretical and practical dilemmas posed by the tension between utopia and pragmatism in Social Ecology’s political vision. The course will meet on Thursdays at 1 pm EST on April 26, May 3, and May 17. Enroll today!

We are happy to announce that our next Intensive Seminar will take place in June at the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington (1 hour from Seattle). The Intensive will bring together activists, students, academics and community leaders for a dynamic week of exploring the struggle for a free society in theory and praxis. We will offer a weekend-only workshop as well as a full 6-day option. The weekend will provide a focused overview of social ecology, followed by four days where we will delve deeper into our conversations about transformative social change and also get out into the community for several action-tours.

We ask for a $60 – $300 sliding scale registration fee for the week, but nobody turned away for lack of funds. For more info or to enroll, email us at social-ecology@mail.mayfirst.org.

Annual Gathering: August 17-19 – Marshfield, Vermont

Mark your calendars! This year’s ISE Annual Gathering will be held August 17-19th in Marshfield, Vermont. The broad focus will be the opportunities and challenges posed by the exciting growth of municipalist and right to the city movements. Reserve your spot today or propose a panel, talk, or performance at: social-ecology@mail.mayfirst.org.

In the wake of Turkey’s attack on Afrin in Northern Syria, we featured an urgent plea for solidarity from from Hawzhin Azeez of the Kobane Reconstruction Board in Rojava:

“In Kobane morale is high. We are cheering on our heroes with great confidence; and we believe that against all odds, against NATO’s second largest military, against the planes bombarding, against all reason and all logic that the heart of Rojava- its democratic and gender empowering soul- will succeed; as we did just three years ago with Kobane … we will do anything, at any cost to defend Kurdistan, defend freedom, defend democracy and all that is sacred in a world torn apart by fascism, capitalism, terrorism.”

The second international meeting on Social Ecology took place this October in Bilbao, Spain. Full report here. The internationalist commune of Rojava also sent a beautiful greeting (in Spanish with English subtitles) to their comrades there, take a look.

ISE board and faculty member Grace Gershuny is working with the newly resurrected Black Rose Books, longtime publisher of Murray Bookchin and other radical thinkers, to republish her book Organic Revolutionary in 2019. Grace also had a recent blog article, “Teaming with Black activists and microbes for the soul of organic,” which asks some hard questions about the food movement: “What can we do to alleviate the unbearable whiteness of organic? How can we work to make healthy, living food that is our human birthright—and access to land and tools to produce it– available to all people?”

“We need to overturn both fossil fuels and the growth economy, and that will require a fundamental rethinking of many of the core underlying assumptions of contemporary societies. Social ecology provides a framework for this.”

A group of social ecologists from Seattle, Olympia, and Portland held a 3-day retreat at an island cabin near Port Ludlow, Washington. They reflected on ongoing work to build municipalist politics in the Pacific Northwest via the Olympia Assembly, Demand Utopia, Seattle Neighborhood Action Coalition, and other activities. Stay tuned for a national municipalist conference and network coming soon!

Speaking of the Pacific Northwest, if you haven’t checked out the Srsly Wrong podcast yet, produced by two social ecologists in Vancouver, B.C., do so now! Entertaining discussions of politics, culture, utopia, and Star Wars. Start with the Google Murray Bookchin episode!

Chad Frederick’s new book America’s Addiction to Automobiles argues that freeing our cities from automobile dependency requires changing the underlying logic of city governance away from the growth paradigm to a sustainable development paradigm with equity and democratic control at its center. Check out an excerpt on our blog!

And finally, many thanks to everyone who responded to our end of the year fundraising appeal! We raised almost $3,000 dollars and received an additional $10,000 matching donation. These funds will help us in our mission of popular education and movement-building for a free and ecological society. These funds will help consolidate and expand our online education programming as well as our June Summer Intensive – thank you to our amazing supporters!

]]>http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/02/ise-winter-newsletter-2018/feed/0Social Ecology Summer Intensive: June 8-13, Poulsbo, WA.http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/02/social-ecology-summer-intensive-june-8-13-poulsbo-wa/
http://social-ecology.org/wp/2018/02/social-ecology-summer-intensive-june-8-13-poulsbo-wa/#commentsSat, 17 Feb 2018 18:52:02 +0000http://social-ecology.org/wp/?p=7429We are pleased to announce the next Social Ecology Summer Intensive will take place June 8-13 at the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington!

]]>We cordially invite you to join us for our annual Social Ecology Summer Intensive, June 8-13 at the Ground Zero Center in Poulsbo, Washington (1 hour from Seattle). For over 40 years the ISE has been hosting crucial movement-building conversations and providing space to reflect collectively on our political analysis, strategy, and vision. Our Summer Intensives continue that work, bringing together activists, students, academics and community leaders for a dynamic week of exploring the struggle for a free society in theory and praxis.

Combining classes, guest lectures, workshops, and walking tours, we will address the social and political issues that impact our activist work, academic studies, and everyday lives. Each year is a bit different, this year’s offerings will include: Foundations of Social Ecology; Understanding Capitalism; Confronting Racism, Fascism & White Nationalism; Nature Philosophy; Municipal Movements and Direct Democracy; History of the Left; Food and Climate Justice; Indigenous Resistance; Art and Social Change; a Radical History Walking Tour of Seattle; The Rojava Revolution. We’ll also kick things off Friday night with a concert and party!

Each year is a bit different, this year’s offerings will include: Foundations of Social Ecology; Understanding Capitalism; Confronting Racism, Fascism & White Nationalism; Nature Philosophy; Municipal Movements and Direct Democracy; History of the Left; Food and Climate Justice; Indigenous Resistance; Art and Social Change; a Radical History Walking Tour of Seattle; The Rojava Revolution. We’ll also kick things off Friday night with a concert and party!

Registration and Logistics

For the full 6-day program we ask a $70–300 sliding scale fee, or $40–100 weekend only; we won’t turn anyone away for lack of funds. We will provide light breakfast and lunch, for dinner there is an on-site kitchen available for use as well as restaurants close by. Participants can camp on-site for free, and there is limited local housing. We can arrange pickups from the ferry.

To enroll or get more info, please email us at social-ecology@mail.mayfirst.org. We’re less than two months away, so if you’d like to come please register soon so we know how many to expect!